Location-Based Open Social Networks

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for open social networks configured for a location or a region. The social networks are accessible to all users. In one aspect, user quantities or post quantities of each social network are displayed. In another aspect, when a social network has popular virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR) content, the name of the social network is displayed with a specific marker or sign.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This is a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/137,937, filedDec. 30, 2020, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 16/437,927, filed Jun. 11, 2019, which is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/255,831,filed Jan. 24, 2019, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 16/112,702, filed Aug. 25, 2018, which is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/226,924,filed Aug. 3, 2016, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,116,757, granted Oct. 30, 2018.

BACKGROUND—FIELD OF INVENTION

This invention relates to social networks, and more specifically, toopen social networks based upon locations.

BACKGROUND—DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART

A social networking system provides an online service, platform, orwebsite that implements social networks, where users may share news,information, ideas, or feelings. A social networking environment ismostly web-based, and it enables users to interact with each other overthe Internet, via online posts, instant or short messages, tweets, oremails. As smartphone system supports social networking environment andmany users have a smartphone, social networks may be used as a newcommunication platform for almost all situations.

For instance, communication via social networks may complementface-to-face conversation among unknown users at a location. When a useris at a shopping mall, the user may want to exchange info with someonein there. When a user is at a train station, the user may want to knowwhat happened when a train is delayed. A user may look around and findsomeone to ask a question. Alternatively, a user may post a question ina social circle designated to the location. For some, the latter may beeasier to do, since it rids a user of shyness, awkwardness, and possibleembarrassment. For a business, the latter provides another channel tocommunicate with customers aside from telephone, website, and email.

When a social network is employed as a contacting or communicationplatform, the openness and ease of use become important. But many socialnetworks are exclusive, need to be found, and require registration oreven a qualification process for enrollment.

Therefore, there exists a need for social network that is open, easy tofind, and easy to access.

When a social network is open and accessible to all users, participantsmay come from all places and not know each other. They are less likelyto share news, knowledge, thoughts, pictures, images, or videos witheach other. They also lack enthusiasm to answer inquiries. Withoutattractive or useful content, a social network may hardly attract users.

Therefore, there exists a need for a method which encourages andincentivizes users to post content items and answer questions in an opensocial network.

The word “post” as verb or “posting” is referred broadly as transmittinginformation from a user to a server via a communication network to letothers in a certain environment, such as a social networking circle,access the transmitted information. The word “post” as noun includesinformation posted or submitted by a user on the Internet, or usergenerated content on the Internet or in any network. Posted informationor content may cover a hyperlink or a uniform resource locator (URL),audio, video, an image, a text, a message, an e-mail, news article, blogentry, survey, etc. Posts are preferably hosted on a web site, but mayalso be hosted locally using local database or a local server system. Indiscussions below, messages, besides posts, are used sometime. “Message”as noun is considered equivalent to post.

OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES

Accordingly, several main objects and advantages of the presentinvention are:

-   -   a). to provide improved location-based open social networks;    -   b). to provide such social networks which are open to all users;    -   c). to provide such social networks which display messages from        a given time slot;    -   d). to provide such social networks which maintain message        quantity on display below a given limit;    -   e). to provide such social networks which provide separate        presentation windows for local and remote users;    -   f). to provide such social networks which are searchable via        keywords or category in a map setting;    -   g). to provide such social networks which show the number of        users who are accessing a network and/or the number of posts        which are published in a network;    -   h). to provide such a social network system which provides a        user content presented at a network that has the most        participants;    -   i). to provide such social networks which have popular virtual        reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR) content;    -   j). to provide such social networks which are presented with a        marker or sign when the social networks have popular VR or AR        content;    -   k). to provide such social networks which let a user who posts a        popular content item share advertising revenues; and    -   l). to provide such social networks which let a user select an        advertisement. The ad is associated with content items the user        provides and is presented when one of the content items becomes        popular.

Further objects and advantages will become apparent from a considerationof the drawings and ensuing description.

SUMMARY

In accordance with the present invention, methods and systems areproposed for location-based open social networks which are easy to findand easy to access. No registration procedures are needed for networkenrolment. In one embodiment, being there enables a user to discover andaccess location-based networks easily. Meanwhile, all online users haveaccess to location-based networks via an interactive map or a websitelink. In another embodiment, the user number or post quantity of anetwork is displayed to help a user select a network. For users whoprefer controlled network content, a limit on message quantity may bearranged, or a time period may be chosen. Users are also able to searchfor network on a map directly using keywords or category. Messages fromlocal and remote users are presented in different windows on screen forthe convenience of viewing local info.

In other aspects, a user receives continuously for a given period oftime content presented at a popular social network which has the mostparticipants. Social networks which have more viewers of VR or ARcontent are presented with a marker or sign. Moreover, incentivizationmethods are arranged. After a user selects an advertisement, the ad isassociated with content items the user provides and is presented whenone of the content items becomes popular. A user who provides a popularcontent item shares advertising revenues. A user who provides a popularcomment, answer, or conversation also shares advertising revenues.

DRAWING FIGURES

FIG. 1 is an exemplary block diagram describing a user device embodimentin accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary flow diagram showing an embodiment of arrangingand accessing a social network in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a graphic diagram showing an embodiment of circle appinterface, where social circles appear on map automatically inaccordance with the present invention.

FIGS. 4 and 5 are exemplary flow diagrams showing embodiments ofarranging and accessing a social network in accordance with the presentinvention.

FIG. 6 is an exemplary flow diagram which illustrates management ofsocial network in accordance with the present invention.

FIGS. 7 and 8 use an exemplary flow diagram and an exemplary graphicdiagram to show embodiments of post management in accordance with thepresent invention.

FIG. 9 uses graphic diagrams to show network access using an interactivemap in accordance with the present invention.

FIGS. 10 and 11 are graphic diagrams which show two embodiments ofcircle app interface, where certain status of social circle is presentedin a map setting in accordance with the present invention.

FIGS. 12 and 13 are graphic diagrams which show two embodiments ofcircle app interface, where options are presented in a map setting inaccordance with the present invention.

FIGS. 14 and 15 are graphic diagrams which show two embodiments ofcircle app interface, where social networks having popular VR or ARcontent are presented in a map setting in accordance with the presentinvention.

FIGS. 16 and 17 are graphic diagrams based on two embodiments of asocial network interface, which illustrate incentivization methods inaccordance with the present invention.

REFERENCE NUMERALS IN DRAWINGS

10 Camera 12 Device 14 Processor 16 Computer Readable Medium 18 GPSSensor 20 NFC Sensor 22 Device 24 Screen 26 Smartphone 28 User Device 30Screen 32 User Device 34 Screen 36 Device 38 Screen 40 Device 42 Screen44 Button 46 Button 48 Button 50 Button 52 Button 54 Button 56 Button 58Button 60 Window 62 Window 64 Button 66 Button 68 Button 70 Icon 72Window 74 Button 76 Button 78 Window 80 Button 82 Button 84 Button 86Button 88 Screen 90 Device 92 Window 94 Button 96 Window

-   -   100, 102, 104, 106, 108, 110, 112, 114, 116, 118, 120, 124, 126,        128, 130, 132, 134, 136, 138, 140, 142, 144, 146, 148, 150, 152,        154, 156, 158, 160, 162, 164, 166, 168, 170, 172, 174, 176, 178,        180, 182, 184, and 186 are exemplary steps.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following exemplary embodiments are provided for complete disclosureof the present invention and to fully inform the scope of the presentinvention to those skilled in the art, and the present invention is notlimited to the schematic embodiments disclosed, but can be implementedin various types.

A social networking environment may involve a networking system andmultiple user devices. A networking system may contain multiple servers.User devices and network system are connected via communicationnetworks. One or more social networks may be implemented or administeredby the networking system in the environment.

The word “server” means a system or systems which may have similarfunctions and capacities as one or more servers. Main components of aserver may include one or more processors, which control and processdata and information by executing software, logic, code, or storedexecutable instructions, or carrying out any other suitable functions. Aserver and/or processor, as a computing device, may include anyhardware, firmware, software, or a combination. In the most compactform, thanks to the advance of microelectronic technologies, a servermay be built on a single processor chip.

A networking system may enable and implement various types of socialnetworks serving a great number of users. It may exemplarily be dividedinto three blocks, represented by server, database, and router andswitch. A server may comprise one or more servers processingapplications, web applications, images, emails, networking, searchingtasks, etc. The database may store data associated with users, networks,servers, and various services. Router and switch may transmitinformation packets between a user device and a networking system overcommunication networks and work as a gatekeeper to and from thenetworks. As social networks may involve a tremendous amount of data,which may be uploaded and aggregated by networking systems continuously,a separate database system may be created. A database system may includea large number of storage devices or modules and specialty servers fordata management and maintenance.

FIG. 1 is an illustrative block diagram of one embodiment according tothe present invention. A device 12 may represent a user device or awireless electronic device, including but not limited to mobile phone,smart phone, smart watch, other wearable device, handheld computer,tablet computer, desktop computer, virtual reality (VR) device,augmented reality (AR) device, and the like. Device 12 may include aprocessor 14 and computer readable medium 16. Processor 14 may mean oneor more processor chips or systems. Medium 16 may include a memoryhierarchy built by one or more memory chips or storage modules like RAM,ROM, FLASH, magnetic, optical and/or thermal storage devices. Processor14 may run programs or sets of executable instructions stored in medium16 for performing various functions and tasks, e.g., surfing on theInternet, placing phone calls, logging on a website, playing video ormusic, gaming, electronic payment, social networking, sending andreceiving emails, short messages, files, and data, executing otherapplications, etc. Device 12 may also include input, output, andcommunication components, which may be individual modules or integratedwith processor 14. Communication components may connect the device to aserver or another device via a communication network. Usually, Device 12may have a display (not shown in FIG. 1 for brevity reason) and agraphical user interface (GUI). A display may have liquid crystaldisplay (LCD) screen, organic light emitting diode (OLED) screen(including active matrix OLED (AMOLED) screen), or LED screen. A screensurface may be sensitive to touches, i.e., sensitive to haptic and/ortactile contact with a user, especially in the case of smart phone,tablet computer, smart watch, and certain wearable devices. A touchscreen may be used as a convenient tool for a user to enter inputs andinteract with a system. Furthermore, device 12 may also have a voicerecognition component for receiving verbal commands or audio inputs froma user. For VR and AR devices and some wearable devices, a virtualscreen or screen having a very small size may be arranged. While it isinconvenient or impractical to touch such a screen, verbal commands andgesture instructions may become useful for users.

A communication network which device 12 may access may cover a range ofentities such as the Internet or the World Wide Web, a local areanetwork (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a metropolitan area network(MAN), a telephone network, an intranet, wireless, and other types ofnetworks. Device 12 may be connected to a network by various wired,wireless, optical, infrared, ultrasonic or other communication means.Via communication networks, device 12 may communicate with a remoteserver of a networking system or service center to send and receive dataor messages.

Device 12 may include a camera sensor 10. Sensor 10 may be a regularphone camera module used by users to take pictures in daily life. Thecamera sensor may be arranged to scan quick response (QR) codes,one-dimensional barcodes, or any other machine-readable codes with thehelp of certain application. QR codes or barcodes may be printed out anddisplayed for public use easily.

Device 12 may include a global positioning system (GPS) 18. Sensor 18may enable a device to get its own location info. Besides GPS, devicelocation may also be obtained using wireless triangulation methods, orother suitable technology, which may be prepared by a service provideror on-site service facility. Usually for indoor or some urbanenvironment, positioning methods other than GPS are used, since GPSrequires a clear view of the sky or clear line of sight for four GPSsatellites.

Furthermore, device 12 may have near-field communication (NFC)capability enabled by NFC sensor 20. NFC is of short-range wirelesscommunication technology and may be employed to communicate securelybetween NFC devices. Sensor 20 may also be used to read aradio-frequency identification (RFID) tag. RFID is also a wirelesstechnology for the purpose of transferring data, such as identificationdata, passively or actively. A RFID chip or RFID tag may be made verysmall in size, e.g., smaller or much smaller than one millimeter. It maybe manufactured by semiconductor technologies. In application, a RFIDtag may be conveniently placed, for instance, on a table or wall forpublic use.

Inside device 12, output signals of sensors may be transmitted toprocessor 14, which, employed with certain algorithm, may process thedata and act according to predefined programs. For instance, processor14 may process data from NFC sensor 20, transmit certain messages to anetworking system or service center, and then wait for instructions ornew messages from the system or center.

FIG. 2 is a schematic flow diagram showing one embodiment of arrangingand accessing a location-based open social network. Assume that a socialnetwork or social networking circle is established for Place A byservice center in Step 100. The social circle is open to all userswithout any need of invitation, recommendation, verification, andregistration. A user has several options to access the circle. In Step102, a user may tap an interactive icon on a map presented on atouch-sensitive screen. The icon may bear name of the circle or theplace. Once the icon is tapped, a user enters the circle and a circleinterface shows up on the screen in Step 112. A user may also access asocial circle via traditional method, i.e., by finding and tapping alink representing the circle in Step 106.

For location-based networks, being there at the place may be utilized toprovide ease and convenience for finding and accessing a correspondingsocial circle. In Step 104, assume a user arrives at Place A, which maybe detected by GPS, the triangulation method, or other techniques. Theuser starts a circle app at a user device. A circle app may mean anapplication which implements social circle functions, instructs a userdevice to obtain data, and assists a user to find, access and performtasks in social circles. Next the device sends the user's location datato service center, which in turn gets info about a social circle createdfor the place. Service center sends circle info to the device and acircle icon appears on a device screen in Step 108. The user sees thecircle icon and then taps it in Step 110. Almost instantly, the userenters or accesses the circle in Step 112. After a user opens a circleapp at a place, a social circle related to the place may be presented onscreen right away. So, a user may just need to recognize a circle iconand tap on it to access the circle. The process to find and access asocial circle is straightforward, simple, and easy.

FIG. 3 is a graphic diagram showing the interface of a circle appschematically. Assume that a device 36 has a touch-sensitive screen 38.After a user launches a social networking app, device 36 startscontacting service center and transmits location info. Service centerreceives the info, retrieves from database circle information related touser location, and then sends it to device 36. Once circle informationis obtained, it is presented in the app interface. As in the figure,interactive icons “Fresh Mart Circle”, “Stadium Circle”, and “UnionSquare Circle”, and the user's own location are displayed on a map. Thecircles may correspond to a store, a stadium, and a public squarerespectively. Circle icons may be placed at each circle's location on amap. Circle location may be a location or place which is determined whena circle is generated. When an entity has a physical location, thelocation may be assigned to a circle of the entity and be called thecircle's location. For instance, location of Fresh Mart Circle is of thestore site and location of Stadium Circle is of the stadium. A user maysimply and conveniently tap a circle icon to log in a circle. It isnoted that a circle icon on a map may be found and accessed by a userfrom a remote place. For instance, a user may log on the website ofservice center, retrieve a map, zoom in to see a place, and then find atarget circle icon around the place. Then, the user may tap the icon toenter the circle. In another embodiment, the map mode of interface maybe replaced by the textual mode, where a list containing circle iconsmay be presented. For instance, after a user opens a circle app, circleinfo may be retrieved from service center and presented by a list ofcircle icons on screen. Next, a user may choose and tap an icon to entera circle.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic flow diagram of accessing a social network.Assume that a user arrives at a place and launches a circle app in Step114. Next, a user device, a service carrier, or an on-site facilitystarts to collect location data in Step 116. Depending on the programsetting, a user may register a place via various ways, since there areseveral technologies available for location detection. “Register” as averb means a user causes submission of location records to servicecenter actively or passively to provide evidence of being present at aplace.

In Step 118, positioning technique such as GPS or the triangulationmethod is used to get user location automatically and directly. GPSmethod requires a GPS sensor, such as sensor 18 of FIG. 1, while thetriangulation method may be conducted by an on-site facility or awireless service carrier.

In Step 120, RFID technology is used. A RFID tag may be displayed forpublic use at a place. If a user device has an NFC sensor, like sensor20 of FIG. 1, a user may swing the device in front of a RFID tag to readit. A RFID tag may contain location info and link data so that it mayassist a user device to log in a social circle directly. Alternatively,a RFID may be designed as a location indicator, that is, the tag onlyprovides location data to a user device. The user device then sends thedata to service center to let the center know where a user is.

Step 122 introduces QR code method, which works in a way similar toRFID. The code may contain login instructions for a circle or just abouta location. As a location indicator, RFID tag and QR code may provideprecise geographic information. They are especially useful whenpositioning method is not available, not preferred due to privacyconcerns, or not precise enough. But RFID and QR-code methods are notautomatic and they require a user to take action, either swiping adevice in front of a tag or aiming at and scanning a QR code.

A user's location may also be determined by a user himself or herselfvia a verbal method as in Step 124. With voice recognition technology, auser may speak to a device the name of a place or a venue. The verbalmethod is not only useful, but also convenient, as saying a word or afew words is all it takes.

Step 126 employs a map method. The method is convenient for on-siteusers when user location is not precise. For instance, when userlocation can't be determined accurately enough and there is no RFID tagor QR code printout in sight, a user may open a circle app and selectmap mode. Next, an interactive map may appear on screen. A user maysearch the map and find a spot of interest. The user then taps the spot,which may be designed as a confirmation act to specify location ofinterest.

Once a user's location info is obtained, it is sent to service center inStep 128. The center then decides which social circle should bepresented to a user based on location data and predeterminedarrangement. It may be designed that a location-based open social circlehas a defined geographic coverage or a designated geographic circlearea. The shape and range of a designated circle area may be defined byservice center or proposed by an entity which a circle is assigned to.When a circle area is submitted by an entity, service center mayevaluate it and approve it with changes or without any change. If auser's location is in a circle's designated area, the circle may beselected and presented to the user. Since social circles' designatedareas may overlap, a user may be located at a place claimed by multiplecircles. In such a case, multiple circles may be presented to the userfor selection.

Alternatively, a designated geographic user area or designated user areamay be defined. All social circles whose location is in a designateduser area may be considered relevant to a user and may be selected andpresented to the user. A designated user area may have any shape anddimension specified by service center or a user. For instance, adesignated user area may have a circular shape whose center is of auser's location. The circular area's radius may be defined by servicecenter as a default setting which may be adjusted by a user. Examples ofradius value include one mile to ten miles. If the radius is of onemile, social circles whose location is within a one-mile range may bechosen and provided to the user. It is noted that selected socialcircles may be presented in map or textual mode at a user device. In mapmode, a map is displayed which covers a designated user area. The mapmay have square, rectangular, or another shape. Circles may show up asinteractive icons on map. In textual mode, interactive circle icons mayform a list or appear on a list.

After obtaining info on social circles, service center sends it to auser device for presentation. In Step 130, a user ponders whether tovisit a circle while still at a place close to it. The user makes adecision, and accesses a circle in Step 134. When the user is busy, heor she may access a circle at a later time in Step 132. As circle infois received, it may be recorded at a user device. An interactive“History” button may be configured in circle app interface. Once a usertaps “History” button, circles encountered within a defined time periodin the past, e.g., three days or a week, may show up on screen. A usermay tap one circle to log in.

FIG. 5 shows an exemplary flow diagram of accessing a social networkfrom another angle. In order to participate in activities oflocation-based social networking circles, a user may start by opening anaccount or subscribing networking service at service center in Step 136.The procedure may be required for users who want to issue post in socialnetworking circles. If a user is not registered, he or she may accesscontent of a social circle, but may not be allowed to post anything.Thus social circles discussed here are configured open to all users, butonly registered user may post messages. A circle app may be downloadedfrom the website of service center and installed at a user device.During app installation, a user may be asked to submit info such asname, email address, place of residence, and preferred user name. As aresult, service center may know a user's identity and other personalinfo, and thus may be able to help the user log in certain socialcircles without another round of registration process and without apassword. Consequently, a user may carry a user name registered atservice center and use it in various participating social circles. Thearrangement makes a social circle free of registration and in themeantime, a user doesn't need to create a user name for every circleencountered. When a user doesn't want to use a registered user name in asocial circle, the user may choose an option to get a temporary username assigned for use in that circle.

In Step 138, a user selects options of tracking scheme. As location datais a critical part of the social circle program, a user may decide whichdetection method would be employed. Location data contains sensitiveinformation, so some users may be concerned about privacy issues. Forinstance, some may not want service center to know all places he or shehas been to. As a result, automatic positioning methods like GPS and thetriangulation method may be turned off, while manual operation such asRFID, QR code, verbal, or map scheme may be selected, which meanslocation records are collected and reported only after a user initiatesit. In practice, a user may place a user device close to a RFID tag toread it, arrange a phone camera to aim at a QR code to scan it, speak toa user device, or tap a circle icon on a map. Next the user devicetransmits location info to service center. When the GPS method isselected and a GPS device is turned on, a circle app may acquirelocation info and send the user's location records to service centerautomatically, assuming the circle app is started already. Next, servicecenter may analyze the user's location records and obtain info aboutsuitable location-based circle or circles. Circle info may betransferred to the user device subsequently. If triangulation or anotherpositioning technology such as ultrasonic method is selected, the user'slocation records may be collected and sent to service centerautomatically from a contracted service, still assuming a circle app ison. When a circle app is off and a user arrives at a place, a userdevice may not communicate with service center and submit or help submitlocation records. But a user may authorize service provider or servicefacility to collect his or her location records and transfer the recordsto service center. Thus whether a circle app is on or off, places may beregistered automatically.

In Step 140, a user selects regions of interest. As a user may pass manyplaces on a routine basis, a lot of social circles may be registeredregularly. A user may like some social circles and dislike some othercircles. So there is a need to avoid registering certain places andlimit the quantity of social circles in daily life. A user may singleout some places or regions and stay away from social circles associatedwith those locations. After a user delists a place to avoid it,corresponding social circles may not appear even the place is registeredby the user.

As a user goes out in Step 142, commuting to work or doing things afterwork, he or she may register places automatically or manually. Assumethat a user turns on a circle app and registers a place in Step 144.Then an icon of a social circle shows up in the app interface on adevice screen in Step 146. The social circle may represent a networkassigned to the place. After a while, if the user goes to another place,the original icon may be replaced automatically by another iconcorresponding to another social circle. In Step 148, the user taps anicon of a circle, which prompts the device to send a message to servicecenter. Service center then starts retrieving info on the circle andsends it to the device. In Step 150, a response from service center isreceived and circle info is presented on the device screen. It may bedesigned that service center selects certain content based uponprearranged conditions and only sends selected posts to a user. Forinstance, assume a user device is set up to display twenty messages orless on screen at a time. Then service center retrieves and sends thelatest twenty or less messages each time. Quantity limit of message maybe arranged to make life less complicated. Service center may choose avalue as the limit or a user may have options to select a value. With aquantity limit, old messages are deleted automatically when new messagesare published. Thus content on a device screen may get updated by itselfonce new messages are received from service center. In Step 152, updateof circle content is performed.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic flow diagram in regard to social networkformation and administration. Assume service center is in charge ofsocial network creation and management. Service center may get connectedto a user device via various communication networks. As a great numberof locations may be suitable for setting up social circles, it is up tothe center to decide which location or region shall be chosen. Servicecenter may generate many social networks for many locationsrespectively. For a location, multiple networks may be created to coverdifferent time blocks such as consecutive days. Since an open networkdiscussed here may have unlimited time span, usually only one network isarranged for a location. Thus it may be configured that some selectedlocations each may be assigned a single social network only. Servicecenter may generate lots of networks matching lots of locations one byone. In Step 154, service center picks a location and announces creationof a social circle associated with the place publically. The locationmay be a subway station, a shopping mall, a public square, a sportsvenue, a park, or any other place where a crowd may gather. Asdiscussed, such a social circle is arranged accessible through severalmethods. Service center monitors presence of registered users at thelocation when permitted and records the users' location info in Step156.

In Step 158, service center receives a request for circle info from anon-site user, which may happen after the user launches a social circleapp at a user device and looks for available networks. The user'srequest and location info are passed to service center automatically.Service center performs a search based on info received to get circlesat and around the user location. Then in Step 160, the center sends oneor more circle names to the user device, which are presented on adisplay for the user to review. Next in Step 162, the center receivesselection info from the user, who taps a circle icon on screen. Assumethat service center has the info that the message quantity has a limitat the user device. In Step 164, service center retrieves the latestmessages, for instance, the latest twenty messages if the limit istwenty. The selected circle content is transmitted to the user devicefor presentation in Step 166. After a while, new messages are posted inthe circle. Service center updates a message list while keeps themessage number below the limit in Step 168. Updated messages are sent tothe user device. The user device may display a fixed number of messages,while the newest messages replace the oldest ones continuously andautomatically.

FIG. 7 shows a schematic flow diagram to illustrate management of socialnetworking circle. As proposed, users may access a location-based socialcircle conveniently after arriving at and registering a place. Suchusers may be called “local users”, since they are there locally. Inaddition, an open circle may also be accessed by users who are notthere, whether registered or unregistered. These users may be called“remote users”. A remote user may be close to the place or thousands ofmiles away from it.

More specifically, it may be defined that a user is considered local fora networking circle if the user is physically located in the circle'srange or a designated circle area. On the other hand, when a circle'srange covers a user's location, the circle may be called the user's“local networking circle”. A designated circle area may be defined byservice center. The area may also be suggested by a user such as abusiness who requested to set up a circle for business use. Servicecenter may approve a user-requested circle area after evaluation. Adesignated circle area may have a circular shape centered at a spot witha given radius. The spot may be a business location if it is a businesscircle. Radius of the area may be of, for instance, a couple of miles ortens of miles. In addition, a designated circle area may have othershapes or irregular shapes depending on actual geographic anddemographic features. The shape and dimensions of a designated circlearea are editable or adjustable by service center. When a circlerepresents a business or entity, the business or entity may be allowedto edit or adjust the shape and dimensions of the designated circle areaunder certain conditions. After a user opens a circle app, servicecenter may get the user's location data and find local networkingcircles whose range or designated area covers the location.

When a user is located out of a designated circle area, the user may beconsidered as a remote user to a social circle; and at the same time,the social circle may be considered as a remote circle for the user.After a user opens a circle app at a device, the app interface may bedesigned to show circle info obtained from service center. Three optionsmay be arranged for presenting social circles. A user may choose one ofthem after entering “Edit” mode. In the options, circles presented mayinclude local circles only, circles within a designated user area only,or local circles plus remote circles which are relatively close to theuser's location in a predefined area. In the second and/or third option,icons of local circles may be arranged to have different color ordifferent appearance from remote circles for easy recognition. In acircle app interface, social circles may be presented by circle iconsorganized in a list or scattered on a map.

Both local and remote registered users may post messages in a socialcircle. When a great number of users actively participate in circleactivities, a large number of posts may be created. Thus there is a needto separate posts generated by local users and remote users.Location-based circle is related to a place, and thus it is likely thatinfo provided by local users may be more relevant and more appealing.When there are a lot of posts from remote users, further division may bearranged to avoid presenting too many posts in one window at a time. Forinstance, posts from remote users may be grouped by users' locations,such as regions or countries.

Moreover, it may be designed that all users have default invisible modeinitially. And a user may switch between invisible and visible mode. Theword “visible” may mean a user name or temporary user name shows up on acircle page after a user enters a circle so that other users may see it.For instance, if a user accesses a circle with visible mode, his or heruser name may be displayed on a list from a circle page which isaccessible to all users. After a visible user logs out or leaves circleinterface, name of the user is removed. On the contrary, the word“invisible” may mean one person's user name is not publicized in acircle. If a user is invisible in a circle, his or her user name doesnot appear on a member list when the user is visiting the circle andreading messages posted there. Thus users in a circle are not able tosee the user name of an invisible user and not able to know whether aninvisible user enters the circle. When a user is visible or invisible ina circle, the user may be considered in visible or invisible moderespectively. The word “mode” means a status or state of a user when theuser is in a circle. Location-based social circles proposed here areopen to all users. Most users in a circle may not know each other andmay not want to know each other for various reasons. Many users whoenter a circle may just want to see what other people talk about.Therefore, most users may prefer the invisible mode. But when a userposts a message, the message may show a user name or a temporary nameassigned for use in one circle only. A temporary name may be used toprotect user privacy when a user doesn't want to expose his or her username.

For location-based social circles, there are users who had registered aplace and may access a circle anytime, but never logged in. These usersare omitted here and not discussed. For unregistered users, it may bearranged that they are in the invisible mode all the time.

If a user enters a circle, but doesn't post any content, the user may becalled “watcher”. In a sense, unregistered users are also watchers. Whena registered user chooses to be a watcher, the user may like to be inthe invisible mode, watching what happens in a circle quietly andstealthily. While watchers don't contribute to posts in a social circle,the circle may still benefit from them as watchers enhance the strengthof audience. When the audience is strong, a circle may attract moreusers, since many people have a tendency to see what a crowd paysattention to.

Back to FIG. 7. Assume that service center creates a social circle inStep 170. Next, the center decides whether to allow remote users toissues posts in the circle in Step 172. There might be differentarguments about posts generated by remote users. First, the number ofremote users may be unlimited, since any user may enter a circle, whichmay render too many posts for a viewer to handle. Second, remote usersare more likely to post irrelevant messages, causing distraction andannoyance. But interaction and info exchange between the local andremote users are important and encouraged in general. Therefore, it's upto service center to make a decision according to each case. If remoteusers are not allowed to post any, messages are generated by local usersonly, as in Step 174. If remote users are allowed to post content,messages issued by local and remote users may be displayed togetheralong a time line. However, when many messages are posted, there is aneed to group messages to provide convenience for viewers. In Step 176,two message windows are arranged. All users may view the windows. Aftera user posts a message in Step 178, service center determines whetherthe poster is a local user or not in Step 180. If a poster is a remoteuser, the message is displayed in window B in Step 182, which is adedicated place for posts from remote users. If a poster is a localuser, the user may have two options in Step 184. The user may post it inwindow B, for interaction with remote users, or post it in window A tokeep conversation among local users in Step 186. Window A is arrangedfor publishing messages from local users only.

FIG. 8 depicts a schematic diagram of social circle interface. A userdevice 22 has a display screen 24. Screen 24 shows two windows in thesocial circle interface. A window on the left displays messages fromlocal users and the other on the right presents messages from both localand remote users. For a remote user, the window on the left is viewableonly. When messages from remote users reach a limit, they may be dividedfurther by user location. In case posts from remote users are grouped byuser location, a user may choose an option to display in the rightwindow messages from domestic remote users at one time, and frominternational users at another time. It may be designed that a messageposted in a circle shows the user name or temporary user name of theposter and the place where the poster is located. If a user doesn't wantto expose his or her location, the user may be considered a remote usereven when the user has registered a local place.

FIG. 9 uses graphic diagrams to show accessing a social circle throughan interactive map when a user location is only known roughly. Takesmartphone as a user device. Assume that a circle app is started at asmartphone 26. In the circle interface, a “Map” button may be configured(not shown in figure for brevity reason). When “Map” button isactivated, map mode takes over. A map with interactive icons or objectsappears on screen in Step 1. Alternatively, map mode may be arranged fora starting page of an app interface. Since the user location is unclear,a map in large scale may be presented. Next, a user double taps on ascreen spot to zoom in as depicted in Step 2. After zooming in, icons ofsome social circles show up on the map, including Circle 1, Circle 2,and Circle 3 at different places. These icons are interactive. In Step3, the user selects Circle 2 and taps its icon on screen. Then in Step4, the interface of Circle 2 appears on the screen of phone 26, whichalso means entry of the circle. Next, the user may view messages, postmessages, or do other things. Thus, it is seen that accessing a socialcircle is simple, easy, and convenient via a map. No registration. Nopassword. A user just starts a circle app on a site, opens aninteractive map, finds a place of interest, and taps on a circle icon toaccess a circle.

The screen view of map setting in FIG. 9 may be used as a starting pagewhen a user starts a circle app and the user location is not knownprecisely. With rough data of the user location, obtained from awireless service provider for instance, an area may be determinedapproximately. Thus a map may be presented showing an area which a usermay be in and may have interest. A user may select a circle on the mapright away or do it after zooming in. When the user location is known, apredetermined map area may be specified by service center, the circleapp, or the setup. The predetermined area may be of a designated userarea which is discussed above or may overlap a designated user area withcertain degree. For instance, if a designated user area is circular, amap may show the exact circular area or a square which covers thecircular area with close dimensions.

A map area in the starting interface may also be an area which is largeenough to include locations of local circles, where the designatedcircle area of each circle may cover the user's location. Setup of themap area in the starting interface may be edited by a user. Forinstance, a user may change the shape of the map area from square torectangular. After a map area is determined, service center may discoverall networking circles whose location is in the area and send circleinformation to the user for presentation. On the user device side, infofrom service center may be received and then displayed in the interface.For instance, a screen may show circle icons distributed on a map.Circle icons may contain a circle name and/or logo and be located at aplace close to the circle location on a map. Characteristic values of acircle may be added to an icon or placed beside it. The characteristicvalues may include the number of users who are currently logging in acircle and the amount of messages posted within a given time in acircle. Service center may arrange a default setting to show or not toshow a characteristic value in a starting interface. Options may bearranged for a user to change the setting. Thus, what may appear onscreen when a circle app is launched may be adjusted by a user. Besidesthe user number and message amount, a special on-screen label may beadded to a circle which has the most log-in users or most messagesissued within certain time. For instance, a user may select a functionsuch that a circle icon may appear on screen with a label saying “MostUsers” or “Most Messages” when a circle app is started or after a searchprocess is conducted. It makes it easy for a user to find out the mostactive circle.

Configurations of a map shown in an interface of a user device asillustrated above may apply to descriptions below. For example, theshape and/or size of a map may be arranged in different ways indescriptions below even though one scenario is described.

FIGS. 10 and 11 show functions of social circle using exemplarydiagrams. When a user is at a location and wants to enter a circlerelated to the location, the user may log in the circle easily andconveniently as illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5. However, for a userstaying at home, there may be too many social circles to choose from. Itmay be hard and frustrating to search for an interesting and dynamicsocial circle. Therefore, there exists a need for service center toprovide tips to help users navigate among a great amount of socialnetworks.

In FIG. 10, a screen 30 of a user device 28 shows a map interface. Themap is interactive since it contains interactive icons or buttonsrepresenting links to social circles besides regular map symbols andlegends. On a map, an icon of a location-based circle may be configuredat or next to the circle's location. So a map may present the geographicdistribution of social circles visually. In the figure, “Map of City”shows three social circles exemplarily. The configuration has a title“Post Quantity”. Beside a circle icon, there is a number showing postquantity and a bar whose height reflects the quantity, which is thenumber of messages posted in a circle during a given period of time. Thetime period may be determined by service center with a value such aspast five to thirty minutes or even several days. It is seen thatCircles A, B, and C each have 20, 35, and 5 messages generated. Ascircles with more activities are more attractive, a user may chooseCircle A or B to join. The interface may be switched from a circle appinterface in textual mode. For instance, after a user taps “Map” buttonin a circle interface, a map may show up. Center of the map may be ofthe user's location. The map may be arranged to show one or more socialcircles which exist in the map area. Each social circle may berepresented by an interactive icon. When an icon is tapped or activated,a social circle interface may appear on screen 30, showing content of asocial circle. A map may also contain other interactive iconsrepresenting website of a business, an organization, or an event whichis associated with a location in a map area. These features are oftenseen on a typical online map. But since a user may be more interested insocial circles, a “Circle Only” button may be arranged on screen. A usermay activate “Circle Only” button on a screen to show interactive iconsof social circles only, while other interactive icons and buttons may beremoved from the screen view. Info received from service center maycontain post quantity data to prepare for a user request. When a userwants to compare activities among circles on a map, the user may tap“Show Post Quantity” button. Then post quantity data is retrieved andquantity bars and numbers may emerge beside circle icons as in thefigure. While in map mode, a user may adjust map scale to view a largeror smaller region on screen.

FIG. 11 shows the same city map with the same social circles on a screen34 of a device 32 with respect to FIG. 10. Instead of posts issued,quantities of users (or user quantities) in the circles are presented bya label showing a number and a bar reflecting the number. A userquantity of a circle may be obtained by counting users include visiblemembers, invisible members, and unregistered users who are currentlyaccessing the circle. Optionally, a user quantity may also be obtainedby counting users including visible members, invisible members, andunregistered users who have accessed a circle at least one time within apredetermined time period (e.g., two hours, twenty-four hours, a fewdays, etc). Options may be provided via screen 34 for a user to changethe predetermined time period. For example, an “Edit” button (not shown)may be configured in the interface on screen 34. A user may activate the“Edit” button to open a window where the time period for collecting userquantity may be adjusted. Members may indicate registered users as usedherein. Unregistered users may be arranged invisible. The height of abar next to a circle icon reflects the user quantity of the circlerelatively. When a user accesses a circle, a device of the user may showan interface of the circle, while the user may do things like readingposts, writing comments, or checking around in the circle.

When a circle attracts lots of users, it may be viewed as somethinginteresting may be happening. Thus for some users, it may be worth totake a look. A user may open a circle app, get in map mode with a mapshown in the app interface, and then tap a “Show User Quantity” buttonto submit a user command. The app communicates with service center whenthe app is launched or becomes active. When an app is active, forexample, an interface of the app may be presented on a screen or asymbol showing the app is active may be displayed on a screen. After thecircle app detects that the “Show User Quantity” button is activated,the circle app may transmit a message including the user command toservice center. Service center may retrieve information of selectedsocial circles corresponding to an area of the map. The retrievedinformation includes user quantities of the selected social circles.Then, service center may send the retrieved information to the app forpresentation. The app may present on the map the selected social circleswith a number and/or a bar representing each circle's user quantity.Alternatively, service center may retrieve and send user quantities ofsome social circles without receiving a user command requesting userquantity information. For example, when service center sends to an app amessage containing a number of social circles for presentation at a userdevice, service center may include the user quantity data in themessage. The app may present user quantities of the social circles in aninterface of a user device.

As illustrated above, the map shown in the app interface may be relatedto a current geographic location of the user which may be detected bythe user device or via a service. Optionally, the map shown in the appinterface may be related to a region specified by the user. For example,the user may input a name of a place or an address. A map or a region ofa map may also be adjusted by the user to make it larger or smaller. Insome embodiments, the selected social circles may be presented with userquantities in text mode. For example, a user may be provided withoptions to switch between map mode and text mode. In some embodiments,when a user submits a query to search for social circles, service centermay choose social circles with regard to the query and then send thesearch results to the user for presentation in text mode. The query, forexample, may include a name of product, a name of a category, a keywordof an event, etc.

As there may be a lot of social circles related to an area of the map ora keyword of a query, service center may determine the selected socialcircles based on the user quantity of each social circle. In someembodiments, only social circles having a larger user quantity areselected and presented to the user. As such, the user quantity of theselected social circles is larger than that of rest of the socialcircles related to the area of the map or the keyword. Alternatively,the selected social circles may be chosen by service center if they havea user quantity larger than a portion (e.g., one or multiple socialcircles) of rest of the social circles. As used herein, the term “rest”may indicate social circles related to the area of the map or thekeyword excluding the selected social circles. Further, a user maysearch new places by changing map scale or a map area, tap an icon of apopular circle which may host a large number of users, and then enter itto find out what is going on.

FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary circle app interface in map mode. Theinterface, presented on a screen 42 of a device 40, shows a map dottedwith social circles in a window 62. Assume that the app is called“Circle Master” and the map is called “Map of City”. There areinteractive buttons beside the map. A “Setup” button 44 is arranged forchanging conditions of the map, such as the size of the map area, theshape of the map, the scale of the map, the center of the map, thecircle category, one or more keywords, etc. A user may tap button 44 toopen a setup window where changes may be made. If the map in window 62only shows names and locations of social circles, a user may tap abutton 46. Then a number shows up beside each circle which is the numberof users who are currently accessing the circle. A user may also tap abutton 48 to see post quantities issued in each circle within a giventime period, which may be any value like between one hour to a couple ofdays or a even longer period. The post quantities may appear beside eachcircle on the map. When textual content is needed, a user may tap abutton 50 to switch the interface from the map mode to the text mode.

Sometimes, a user may be interested in a social circle related to aparticular event, such as a famous festival, a major sports game, a bigceremony, a traffic incident, a weather phenomenon, breaking news ofother kinds, etc. Thus there exists a need to have a search function. Asearch may be carried out using keywords or category as search query.Keywords may include a name of a place, a symbol, one or more wordsassociated with a topic, etc. If a name of a place or a region issubmitted, service center may retrieve social circles at or around theplace or in the region only. Search results may be presented in textualor map mode. The textual mode, like the current search results, mayfeature a list of circles with a website link or a brief introduction toeach one. In the map mode, search results may be shown on a map, such ascircle icons scattered in a map area, as each location-based circle isrelated to a place. In the map mode, if a user changes a search query,different circles may show up at the same place or different locationson a map. So a user may use the search function to find desirable socialcircles in a region conveniently.

For ease of use, service center may categorize social circles or renamea circle temporarily. For instance, when there is no specific topic, acircle may belong to casual talk category; when a circle is related to aplace where a public event is happening or happened within a shortperiod of time and conversation in the circle is about the event, thecircle may belong to public event category for some time; when a circleis related to a place where breaking news is happening, the circle maybelong to breaking news category and be renamed after the breaking newstemporarily, such as “Grand Parade Circle”. Again, a user may select thetextual mode or map mode. When an event happens at a place and attractsattention around the world, users on the scene may log in a local circleand report what is happening, and users everywhere may find the circleand access it to learn the first-hand information from people in thefront.

Back to FIG. 12. A “Search” button 56 is arranged in the interface forenabling a search task. Once button 56 is activated, it prompts thecircle app to send a search request to search center. Beneath button 56,a “Category” button 58 is configured. A use may tap button 56 to see alist of categories and then select one to limit a search within thecategory. A user may also enter one or more keywords in an entry window60. When a user submits a new query except a location name, a map mayremain the same scale, while different social circles may appear at thesame or different places. Since the map scale may be adjusted to displaya smaller or larger area, it may be used as another query element in asearch process. Similarly, post quantity or user number may be utilizedas query element too. For instance, a user may key in “user number” or“post quantity” in entry window 60, and then tap button 56 to launch asearch. When a search is based on user number or post quantity, a givennumber of circles which have top user numbers or post quantities areretrieved and presented. The circles may come from all categories if thecategory limit is not entered.

Since users in an open social circle may not know each other, after theyleave the circle, they may not want to know what happened in the circle,like who posted what post. Hence, it may be designed that service centerwill not send to a user any message about activities in a social circleafter the user logs out of the circle. However, if a user does want tobe informed of what happened in a circle anytime, the user may tap a “Bea Follower” button 54, as displayed in FIG. 12. Once button 54 isactivated, a window appears where a user may select a social circle tofollow it. Following a circle or being a follower of a circle means auser gets a notification when there is one or more new posts issued inthe circle or other predetermined events occur. A follower must be aregistered user so that service center knows how to contact him or her.A follower may choose to be visible or invisible. Arrangement of thefollower serves two purposes.

First, some users may want to know the activities of a social circleafter they leave there. For instance, a popular social circle may haveloyal fans. Second, a user may enter a circle arranged for a location inorder to get info from someone. But sometimes, there may be no users whoare currently accessing the circle. For instance, a social circle of aremote small town may be empty without any users quite often. If thecircle of the small town has followers, a visitor may post a questioneven though there is no user there. And then a notification may be sentto the circle's followers. Hopefully, one of the followers may read thenotification and provide an answer to the question in time.

Since there may be a large quantity of open social circles, a user mayfind it hard to decide which circle is the best. Some users may log inseveral circles to try them out one by one. Some users may just want tojoin a circle which has the most users who are accessing the circle.Thus, a “Popular Now” button 52 may be configured on screen 42. After auser taps button 52, a request is sent to service center by the circleapp. The request contains info about an area defined by the user alongwith other conditions, such as a category or a keyword. For instance, ifa user John arranges an area in window 62, selects a category, andenters a keyword, the info is passed to service center. Next servicecenter may retrieve information on selected social circles which arerelated to the arranged area, such as circles whose locations are withinthe arranged area, belong to the selected category, and are related tothe keyword. The center then finds out which circle has the most usersor participants among the selected circles. A participant of a circlemay be a registered, unregistered, local, remote, visible, or invisibleuser who is accessing the circle or logging in the circle. Then servicecenter identifies a popular circle which has the most participants andsends to user John content presented at the popular circle.

Service center may send content of a popular circle, which has the mostusers, continuously for a given period of time. The content may includeat least the main part which is presented at the popular circle so thata user may read posts just published, watch video clips just uploaded,or share a streaming event happening at the popular circle. A short timelike one to two minutes before the given period of time elapses, servicecenter may reevaluate the situation. If the previously popular circlestill has the most participants, content presented at the circle may betransmitted to the user continuously for another round, i.e., anothergiven period of time. If it is detected that another circle has the mostparticipants now, service center may stop sending content presented atthe previous popular circle at the end of the given period of time.Next, the center may send to the user content presented at the newpopular circle for the given period of time. Hence, service center mayautomatically switch from one social circle to another one to send auser popular content among selected social circles continuously. Hence,a user may tap button 52 to view content from a social circle which hasthe most participants currently and to view content from another socialcircle which has the most participants at a later time.

FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary circle app interface on screen 42 ofdevice 40, which may show up when button 52 of FIG. 12 is tapped by auser or requester. Above a window 72, there is a title “PopularNow—Circle 3”. The title means that Circle 3 has the most users andwindow 72 is showing content of Circle 3, which may be, for instance,streaming media, assuming that Circle 3 is a streaming platform. Theshow of streaming media may continue for a given period of time, forinstance, five to twenty minutes. After that, service center may keepsending content presented at Circle 3 for another round, if Circle 3retains the most participants. If Circle 1 has the most participantsafter the given period of time, service center may start sending contentpresented at Circle 1 and sending it continuously for the given periodof time.

If a user wants to stay with a circle which has the most participantscurrently, the user may tap a “Stay Here” button 64 on screen 42. Uponactivation of button 64, the circle app sends a message to servicecenter to request staying with the current circle. Then service centermay keep sending content presented at the current circle for anunlimited period of time. On the other hand, if a user doesn't like thecurrent circle, the user may tap a “Switch Now” button 66. Then arequest is sent to service center by the circle app. After servicecenter receives the message that button 66 is activated, the center mayselect another circle, such as a circle with the most or the second mostparticipants, and send content presented at the circle to the user.

If a user wants to adjust the given period of time, he or she may tap a“Setup” button 68. Then a setup window may show up. The user may changethe given time period during which content presented at a popular circleis sent continuously.

In the setup window, the user may also change the category of socialcircles, the geographic area, one or more keywords entered previously, alist of unwanted circles, the size of window 72, and so on. A list ofunwanted circles may include circles which a user doesn't like and wantsto avoid. The geographic area may be adjusted by changing the centerlocation or the radius of a circular region. The geographic area mayalso be adjusted by changing the name of a city, a region, or a country.An option, such as “Select All Areas”, may be arranged which means allplaces are chosen, that is, the geographic area covers the whole world.After a user adjusts the geographic area, a new area is defined. Next, amessage is sent to service center to report the change by the circleapp. The center then retrieves social circles related to the new areaand subsequently determines a social circle which has the mostparticipants. Then the center starts sending to the user contentpresented at the circle that has the most participants. Similarly, whena category or keyword is changed, service center starts selecting newsocial circles, finds a new popular circle among the newly selectedcircles, and sends to a user content presented at the new popularcircle.

In above discussions, it is assumed that social networks are locationbased. Alternatively, a check box may be arranged beside a “LocationBased Circles Only” sign in the setup window (Not shown in the figure).The check box may be checked in a default setting. If a user wants toinclude social circles which are not based on a location, the box may beunchecked. After the check box is unchecked, a social circle'sgeographic data becomes irrelevant. Resultantly, service center mayselect circles and determine a popular circle with the most users basedon limitations excluding geographic factors.

If service center detects that a previously popular circle no longer hasthe most users, content presented at another circle which has the mostusers may be presented after a given period of time ends. The change ofsocial circle is performed automatically at service center. Before thepresentation is switched from one circle to another one, a “Switch Soon”icon 70 may be lightened to alert a user for a short period of time,like ten to twenty seconds. The user may tap a “Yes” button 74 toapprove it or push a “No” button 76 to object it. If button 74 isactivated, content items from a new circle may be presented after agiven time period elapses. If button 76 is pushed, content from thecurrent circle may be presented for another round. In the absence ofuser input, it may be considered that the user approves the change ofsocial circle.

FIG. 14 illustrates another exemplary circle app interface on screen 42of device 40. The embodiment provides convenience for users looking forpopular VR or AR content. When a user has a VR or AR device, such as aVR headset, an AR headset, a pair of VR glasses, a pair of AR glasses,and so on, the user may want to watch popular VR or AR media content.Some social circles may have VR or AR content. A user may download itafter logging in a circle and then watch it. If a circle has a streamingplatform and provides streaming service, a user may also watch VR or ARcontent through a streaming process. In the figure, a button 80 has asign “Show Popular VR/AR”. After a user starts app “Circle Master”, amap may appear in a window 78 on screen 42, showing social circlesrelated to various locations on the map. If the user taps button 80, amarker or sign may be added to circles that have popular VR or ARcontent, e.g., a letter “R”. As shown in FIG. 14, the marker or sign maybe proximate to the name of a corresponding circle. Assume that circles1, 2, and 5 have popular VR or AR content among circles 1 to 5. Hence,letter “R” is attached to circles 1, 2 and 5 respectively, as shown inthe figure, which makes it easy to identify the circles. In some cases,the marker or sign (e.g., “R”) may indicate a circle has certain VR orAR content, while a circle without the marker or sign may indicate thecircle does not VR or AR content. In these cases, FIG. 14 may indicatecircles 1, 2, and 5 each have some VR or AR content, and circles 3-4 donot have VR or AR content. Thereafter, the user may tap one amongcircles 1, 2, and 5 to enter a network. Next another interface may showup displaying content of the network. The user may find a VR or AR showand start downloading or streaming the media content.

Popular VR or AR content may be of content which has more viewers thanother VR or AR content. A given number of social circles, such as ten totwenty circles, may be selected based on the number of viewers of VR orAR content. The selected social circles each have VR or AR content thathas more viewers than VR or AR content provided by other social circles.The number of viewers of VR or AR content in a circle may include thenumber of download of VR and AR content there plus the number ofstreaming cases of VR and AR content in a given time period, such asfrom a few hours to a few days, or a much longer time period. In somecases, the number of viewers of VR or AR content in a circle mayindicate the number of download of VR and AR content there or the numberof streaming cases of VR and AR content in a given time period, such asfrom a few hours to a few days, or a much longer time period. Astreaming case may represent a VR or AR content streaming process whichlasts at least certain time, say one minute to thirty minutes.Additionally, when a certain percentage of a VR or AR show is streamed,say at least ten to fifty percent, the steaming process may also becounted as a streaming case. Viewers counted may include users whodownload or stream any VR and AR shows in a circle. Thus, when a socialcircle has popular VR or AR content, the popular VR or AR content mayinclude one or more shows and/or programs. Alternatively, viewer numbersof every VR or AR show or program in each circle may be comparedindividually, instead of comparing total viewer quantities of all VR andAR content of each circle. In such a case, if a social circle haspopular VR or AR content, it means the circle has a VR or AR show orprogram which has more viewers than each of VR and AR shows and programsprovided at a certain number of other circles.

After a user activates button 80 by, for instance, tapping it, thecircle app sends a message to service center. The message contains arequest for circles having popular VR or AR content. If window 78already shows some social circles on a map, the message may include theinfo as well. Then service center may retrieve viewer quantity infoabout the circles on the map from a database and select circles whichhave the popular content. The map may be a default map based on a user'sgeographic location after the user launches a circle app. The map mayalso be a map after a user submits certain conditions or makes certainchanges. For instance, a user may input a location name or use afingertip to adjust a map in window 78. Then a new region is determinedwhich is covered by the map. Service center may select social circlesrelated to the region and send info on the selected circles to a userfor presentation. Next, if the user requests for circles of popular VRor AR content, service center may retrieve info on viewer quantities ofcircles related to the region from a database and determine a givennumber of circles which have popular VR or AR content. Service centerthen sends the user info about circles of popular VR or AR content. Theinfo sent to the user may also include viewer numbers, depending onprearrangements. Viewer numbers of the selected circles may be presentedto the user.

A user may obtain new social circles by adjusting a map in window 78,like zooming in, zooming out, or changing places. A user may also obtainnew circles by choosing a category or using key words. For instance, a“Category” button may be configured on screen 42 (not shown in thefigure). A user may tap it and then choose one from a category list,which may include, for example, sports, shopping, comedy, scenery, andso forth. An input window may also be configured on screen 42 (not shownin the figure). A user may enter key words which are related to socialcircles of interest. Key words may include a name of an event, a person,a subject, a location, etc. When a location name is submitted, socialcircles related to the location may be selected. After a category ischosen and/or key words are submitted, a request for circles of popularVR or AR content may include the info. After service center receives it,it selects circles from a database based on the info plus some commonfactors.

A checkbox with an exemplary sign “Location Related” may be configuredin window 78 (not shown in the figure) too. The checkbox may be inchecked state at the beginning as a default setting, meaning thelocation factor is involved in social circle selection and circleschosen are location related. Optionally, a user may uncheck the box toexclude the location factor in search and/or selection processes. Whenthe box is unchecked, the circle app interface may be switched from mapmode to textual mode automatically. Resultantly, service center mayselect social circles without considering the location factor. Thus,social circles presented to a user may include networks that are notlocation related.

As there is a need for textual format, a “Text Mode” button 84 isconfigured on screen 42 in FIG. 14. After a user tap button 84, circlesin window 78 may be presented by a list along with other textualcontent. If a user taps button 80 while in textual mode, informationsent to service center may include the user's location, if available,and other info which may be selected or submitted by the user. Servicecenter may determine a region based on the information, obtain socialcircles related to the region, retrieve viewer quantity info, and thenselect a given quantity of circles that have popular VR or AR content.

A user may change certain default values using a setup button 86. Forinstance, after button 86 is activated, a window may show up, where auser may make changes on certain factors or conditions, such as the timeperiod during which the viewer number is calculated, the number ofselected social circles that have popular VR or AR content, whether theviewer quantity corresponds to an individual VR or AR show or program ofa circle or all VR and AR shows and programs in a circle, etc. Inaddition, it is assumed that VR or AR content, as used herein, mayinclude mixed reality (MR) media content when MR content is available.

As some users may be interested in circles of popular VR or AR contentonly, a button 82 is configured. Once button 82 is activated, socialcircles which don't have popular VR or AR content are removed from themap. Hence, only social circles which have popular VR or AV content arepresented, as illustrated graphically in FIG. 15, which shows yetanother embodiment according to the present invention. If the interfaceis in textual mode, social circles which don't have popular VR or ARcontent are removed from a circle list and removed from the interface.Thus all circles on a circle list have popular VR or AR content.

Alternatively, button 80 may have a label “Show VR/AR” and button 82 mayhave a label “VR/AR Only”. In these cases, when button 80 is activated,markers or signs are attached to circles having VR or AR content. Forexample, assume screen 42 shows the names of circles 1-5 initially. Inresponse to activation of button 80, the marker “R” may be respectivelyadded to circles 1, 2, and 5, indication these circles have VR or ARcontent. When button 82 is tapped, circles with no VR or AR content maybe removed from screen 42, and screen 42 only shows names of circlesthat have VR or AR content. The term “VR or AR” as used herein indicatesVR and/or AR.

Participants of an open social networking circle tend to be strangers toeach other. They may lack enthusiasm to reply to an inquiry or shareinformation. In order to have posts of interesting content and encourageinteractions between participants, incentive schemes are configured.FIG. 16 shows an exemplary circle interface according to the presentinvention. The interface is displayed on a screen 88 at an electronicdevice 90. As shown in the figure, it is a starting page of an opensocial network called “Union Square Circle”. The circle is related to aplace called Union Square. A user may enter the circle using app “CircleMaster” or via a website of service center. In the latter case, asdiscussed, the user may log on the website of service center first, findthe circle, and then tap or click an icon to open the circle.

On the starting page, there are graphical objects “Picture 1” and“Picture 2” which represent and show signs of two pictures respectively.The two graphic objects may also represent two images. There are alsographic objects “Video 1” and “Video 2” representing two videosrespectively. The pictures and videos may be uploaded by participants ofthe circle. Beside objects of pictures and videos, conversation recordsor conversations among participants of the circle are provided via awindow area “Chat Space”. When needed, more graphic objects may beconfigured on the starting page for presentation of various types ofcontent. Additionally, an advertisement, “Site Advertisement”, ispresented on the page and functions as one of the revenue sources. Thead is sponsored by an advertiser. The advertiser may be charged by thenumber of users who accessed the page within a given time frame and thetime each user spent visiting the page. In practice, after a user entersthe circle and the starting page is presented to the user for at least agiven time period, the app sends related info to service center. Thecenter may keep monitoring and administering activities in the circle.After receiving the info from the app, the center stores the info at adatabase. Later on, the center bills the advertiser for ad feesaccordingly.

To encourage users to participate in circle events, incentive plans aredesigned. A user has a chance to share advertising revenues afterproviding a content item or content element to the circle. Content itemsinclude a picture, a video, an audio object, a streaming object or event(when a streaming platform is available), an answer, a comment, aconversation, etc. A user's chance of sharing ad income is related tothe popularity of a content item the user provides. Popular contentitems may be presented on a starting page of a circle. When a contentitem provided by a user is presented on a starting page of a circle, theuser may share advertising revenues derived from an ad presented on thepage. For instance, in FIG. 16, ad revenues may come from “SiteAdvertisement”. Users who provide the pictures and videos on the page,e.g., “Picture 1”, “Picture 2”, “Video 1”, and “Video 2”, get a part ofthe ad revenues via a predetermined plan. Thus, when a user's contentitem is displayed on a starting page of a circle, the user has a chanceto share ad revenues derived from an advertisement placed on the page.For instance, after service center receives info that a participantenters “Union Square Circle” and the starting page of the circle ispresented to the participant for at least a given time period, thecenter may charge or bill ad fees to the advertiser. Then the centersends a part of the ad fees to relevant users. The relevant users mayinclude users who supply pictures, videos, and other select contentitems displayed on the starting page. They are paid according to apredefined plan respectively.

Rules may be defined to determine which content item shows up in acircle interface or on a starting circle page. To award providers ofhigh-quality content items and useful conversations, service center maychoose content items based on reactions of participants in a socialcircle. If a content item receives more complimentary responses thanother content items in a group, the content item may be presented on astarting page. Content items may include a picture, an image, a video, aconversation, an audio object, a streaming object, and so on. Theresponses may include comments or responses made by words, a sign, or anemoticon symbol, a rating by a number or a mark, a selection amongpreset answers, etc. A conversation includes a reply to a question, astatement, or a comment, which may appear in “Chat Space”, for instance.If a conversation of a user receives more complimentary responses thanother conversations, the user may share ad income as well, even thoughthe conversation may not be displayed on a starting page due to limiteddisplaying space. In addition, certain time periods may be set byservice center. A content item or conversation may be selected based onrecords collected within a given time period, which may range from halfan hour to several hours to several days. Consequently, a select contentitem may be assigned for display on a starting page for the given timeperiod.

The graphic objects in FIG. 16 may be configured interactive. Asdiscussed, object “Picture 1” represents and shows a picture. If a usertaps or clicks on the object, app “Circle Master” sends a requestmessage to service center. In response, service center transmits certaindata to the app. Next, the app causes the interface to show a contentpage. On the content page, the picture, “Picture 1”, is presented with alarger size and more detail using the data received from service center.Moreover, interactive icons representing other pictures and images maybe presented beside the enlarged picture using the data, providingchances for the user to view more content. “Picture 1” and the otherpictures form a group. “Picture 1” is selected in the group and may becalled a popular content item because it has more complimentary commentsand responses than the other pictures. After a user opens the contentpage and views other pictures in detail, the user gives a complimentaryremark to one of the other pictures. Next, the app records the remarkand sends the info to service center. The center stores the info at adatabase. The info may be used for selecting a popular picture in thegroup in the next round.

Similarly, when object “Picture 2” is activated, the app sends a requestmessage to service center and presents a larger version of the pictureon a content page after receiving data transmitted from the center.Along with the enlarged picture, icons of other pictures are presented.“Picture 2” and the other pictures form a group. “Picture 2” is selectedfrom the group and may be called a popular content item since it hasmore complimentary remarks and responses than the other pictures.

Similarly, when object “Video 1” or “Video 2” is activated, the appsends a request message to service center and starts playing “Video 1”or “Video 2” in a window on a content page after receiving datatransmitted from the center. Beside the window, icons of other videosare presented. “Video 1” or “Video 2” and the other videos form a group.“Video 1” or “Video 2” is selected and may be called a popular contentitem because it receives more positive or complimentary remarks andresponses than the other videos in the group.

The “Chat Space” area shows some recent conversations which includequestions, answers, comments, replies, statements, and so on. If the appsenses that a spot of the area is tapped or clicked by a user, it sendsa request message to service center. Then, the app displays a contentpage in the interface or on a content page after receiving datatransmitted from the center. The content page shows more chat orconversation content in a larger area. If a user's comment, reply,answer, statement, or explanation receives more complimentary responsesthan other chat or conversation posts in a given time, the user may beselected to share advertisement revenues derived from both the startingpage and the content page via a predefined plan.

When object “Picture 1” of FIG. 16 is activated by a clicking or tappingact, the app shows a content page as illustrated graphically in FIG. 17.The content page presents a larger version of “Picture 1” in a windowarea 96. Also presented are other pictures which are uploaded by usersvia the content page. The other pictures may be represented byinteractive icons on the page or interactive icons plus a pull-down menuwhich provides access to additional pictures. The pictures, whichinclude “Picture 1” and are submitted via the content page, form agroup. “Picture 1A”, “Picture 1 B”, and “Picture 1C” are examples of theicons. The icons may be signs or images of the pictures. Next to thepicture and picture icons, there are a user input area 92, a button 94,a “Like” button, a “Upload” icon, and an advertisement “Page Ad”. Inarea 92, a user may enter words, an image, a sign, or an emoticon symbolas a comment, a reaction, or a response in regard to “Picture 1”. Theuser may also tap or click the “Like” button to submit a complimentaryremark for the picture. Interactive button 94 is configured forreturning to the starting page from the content page. If the user tapson a spot in window 96, the app enlarges “Picture 1” further and maydisplay the picture on the whole screen. If the user taps or clicks oneof the picture icons, say “Picture 1C”, the app sends a request messageto service center and shows picture “Picture 1C” in a larger size inwindow 96 after receiving data transmitted from the center. Thus, theuser may replace “Picture 1” by another picture on the content page byactivating a corresponding icon. The user may key in a comment on thepicture in area 92 or tap the “Like” button if desired. The comment orreaction is sent to service center subsequently. The center uses them toselect the next popular picture in the group at a later time.

Icon “Upload” is configured for a user to upload content items, such asone or more pictures, images, videos, etc. When a user wants to add apicture to the group or the content page, the user taps or clicks“Upload” icon. Next, a sign-in window shows up. The user logs in anaccount using a user name and a password. Then, the user may startuploading a picture at the device. After that, the picture becomes acontent item or content element of the group. If the user has alreadyselected an advertisement at service center, the ad is attached to thepicture. When the picture becomes popular in the group, the ad may bepresented on the starting page.

A popular picture or content item is selected when it receives morecomplimentary responses than other pictures or content items in a groupwithin a given time period. A starting page may display one or morepopular content items. A group of content items may be content itemswhich are uploaded or submitted via the same content page. Referringback to FIG. 16, “Picture 1” and “Picture 2” are two popular contentitems in two groups respectively. So are “Video 1” and “Video 2”. Sincethe starting page displays content items supplied by multiple users, theusers share a part of ad revenues generated via “Site Advertisement”. Auser, whose comment in “Chat Space” receives more complimentaryresponses than conversations and comments made by other users, alsoshares the part of the ad revenues. Sharing of the ad revenues isconducted via a preset plan which may be determined by service center.

Optionally, service center may choose a picture, an image, or a video,either a user-created content item or content item created via othermethods, and present it on a starting page of a circle. A sign may beplaced beside the content item to indicate that it is selected byservice center. A user may still get paid by a portion of advertisementincome when a content item coming from the user is selected by servicecenter.

While “Site Advertisement”, which shows up on the starting circle page,may be chosen or determined by service center, “Page Ad”, shown on thecontent page as in FIG. 17, may be brought in by a user who provides thepopular content item to the content page. For instance, “Page Ad” may beselected by a user who uploaded popular item “Picture 1” via the contentpage. When a user wants to post a content item in a circle, the userregisters at service center first. After that, the user may select an adfrom an advertisement list prepared at service center. As each adfeatures a specific subject and has a specific advertising rate, someusers may like to select ads by themselves for certain purposes. After auser selects an ad at service center, the ad becomes associated withcontent items provided by the user in one or more social circles. When acontent item provided by the user becomes popular, i.e., the contentitem has more complimentary responses than other content items in agroup of a social circle, the ad selected by the user may show up on acontent page which contains content items of the group. Then, the userhas a chance to share ad income when other users visit the circle.

Assume that a content page of a social circle displays an image which isthe popular one in a group of images. The page also displays anadvertisement selected by a user who provides the popular image. The adis sponsored by an advertiser. After another user launches a circle app,enters the circle, and then opens the content page, the app sends amessage to service center. The message reports that a participantaccesses the content page and the content page is presented to theparticipant for at least a given time period. The message may alsoinclude info about the advertisement displayed on the content page.Next, service center stores the message at a database and charges orbills the advertiser for ad fees. Meanwhile, the center finds an accountof the user who supplies the popular image. The center then sends apotion of the ad fees to the user according to a plan. The user may bethe only party who shares the ad fees derived from the content page withservice center.

Conclusion, Ramifications, and Scope

Thus it can be seen that systems and methods are introduced to provideimproved location-based social networks.

The improved method and system have the following features andadvantages:

-   -   (1). Location-based social circles are arranged open to all        users;    -   (2). Users may find and access a social circle via an        interactive map;    -   (3). Messages generated by local and remote users are placed in        separate windows;    -   (4). The post quantity and number of users of a social circle        are presented as a selection guide;    -   (5). Social circle is searchable on a map through keywords or        category;    -   (6). Content of a network which has the most participants is        sent to a requester continuously for a given period of time upon        a request;    -   (7). A given number of social networks that have more viewers of        VR or AR content are selected and sent to a user;    -   (8). A given number of social networks that have more viewers of        VR or AR content are presented with a specific marker or sign;    -   (9). A user who provides a popular content item shares        advertising revenues; and    -   (10). An advertisement selected by a user is associated with        content items the user provides. The advertisement is presented        when a content item provided by the user becomes popular.

Although the description above contains many specificities, these shouldnot be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merelyproviding illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments.Numerous modifications will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

Ramifications

Social networking circle as discussed above works as a platform fortwo-way communication. For instance, local and remote users may postmessages as well as viewing messages. On the other hand, a social circlemay be designed as a platform aimed for one-way communication. One-waycommunication means users may view messages, but aren't allowed to postmessages. For instance, a networking circle representing a business likea restaurant may favor one-way feature, when the business wants to postinformation for customers to view but doesn't have the manpower tohandle instant inquiries. No matter one-way or two-way, a social circlemay act as a platform of promotion and advertisement for a business.Methods introduced above may be used for social circles of both typeswhen the methods are applicable.

A user may speak to a device to enter instructions using voicerecognition techniques. For instance, after a user arrives at a place,the user may say “circle app” to a device to launch a circle program.Next a circle interface may show up on screen with one or more icons ofsocial circles presented. The user may take a look at a circle list orcircle icons on a map and say a circle name to enter a circle. A usermay also say the name of a button to activate it, which is equal totapping the button. For instance, a user may say “Popular now” and thenwatch a program presented at a popular circle which has the most users.

As aforementioned, service center may decide whether a social circleshould be arranged for a place or location. In real life, service centermay not know all needs of users. Thus, users, especially business andorganization entities, may request service center to create alocation-based social circle. And service center may evaluate it,approve the request, and set up a circle. For instance, a retail storemay want to establish a location-based circle of its own. In such acase, the store may provide location data of store to service center. Toaccommodate users' positioning or registering needs, the store mayprepare RFID tag, QR code, and/or other positioning method for users.Aside from business and organization, an individual user may alsorequest to arrange a circle for a place or a group gathering at a place.For social circles originated from requests outside service center, alabel such as “Sponsored Circle” and the name of the originator may beshown in a circle interface. Display of the label and the originator'sname may be mandatory since such kind of circle may be used for theadvantage of certain group or person. Service center may collect feesfor creating and maintaining user-initiated circles.

When there are a lot of messages in a social circle, a user may have ahard time to find out whether other users have replied to his or herpost or a reply may be removed due to the quantity or time limit. Forinstance, if a quantity limit or time range is arranged, a reply may bewith the deleted posts which are off limit or out of range. Thus, a“Reply” button may be created at the circle interface. When there is areply, color of the button may change. A user may tap the “Reply” buttonto access one or more replies from other users regarding a post the usermade at an earlier time, and may respond to a reply to continue aconversation.

Because location-based open social circles are accessible to all users,many posts may be generated given a potential huge number of users whomay access a circle and write a message. Thus a user may be overwhelmedby lots of messages and the messages may become a burden. Therefore,setting up a presentation limit may help some users. Since most users ina location-based circle don't know each other, some may be interested inactivities which are happening and may not want to know much from pastconversations. Such users may like a quantity limit for messagespresented on a user device. For instance, if the limit is of twenty, auser device may only display twenty messages each time, which are thelatest twenty messages and are updated constantly when new messages areissued. For a user with moderate interest in what happened in a circle,a time limit may be used. The time limit may be any value. If it is ofthirty minutes, a user device may display posts generated in the pastthirty minutes without message quantity limitation. A message list maybe updated periodically as time goes by. When a user is deeply attachedto a circle, the user may choose to save all posts in a circle and haveall posts accessible at any time. For instance, a user may tap a “Setup”button, like button 44 in FIG. 12. The button may lead to a setup windowwhere a user may choose options like “Message Quantity Limit”, “TimeLimit”, and “Location Limit”. A user may enter a number for quantitylimit or a value for time limit. A time limit may be of half hour, onehour, two hours, or the maximum value allowed. A user may use a locationlimit to get circles from a certain region only. For instance, someusers may be interested in social circles from a certain location only.

In many discussions presented, “tap” as a verb is used as an action toactivate an interactive icon or button. It is noted that a tap actionmay be replaced by other moves, like click or verbal instructions whenit is doable.

Referring to FIG. 16, an interactive “Streaming 1” object may beconfigured in a window on the starting page as an additional graphicobject (not shown in the figure). Object “Steaming 1” may display atitle of a popular streaming event or a name of a user who provides theevent. When object “Streaming 1” is activated, the app sends a requestmessage to service center and starts a streaming event in a largerwindow on a content page after receiving data transmitted from thecenter. Beside the larger window on the content page, icons of otherstreaming events may be presented. A user may tap an icon to viewanother steaming event. “Streaming 1” and the other events form a group.“Streaming 1” is selected as the popular content item because itreceives more complimentary remarks and responses than the other eventsin the group.

An advertisement configured in an interface of a social circle may be aninteractive ad object or as a link to a website. Assume the ad issponsored by an advertiser. After a user launches a circle app at adevice, enters a circle, and activates an ad object by tapping orclicking it in a circle interface, the app sends a message to servicecenter after obtaining the user input. The center transmits data to theapp in response to getting the message. Next, the app receives the datafrom the center and then opens a window in the circle interface usingthe data, which may show detailed info about an advertised product andcertain procedures, such as procedures for purchasing the product.Hence, ad fees may be charged to the advertiser when a user reacts to anadvertisement. The user may react by tapping or clicking an ad object oruttering a verbal command, such as “Open the ad”. Moreover, after a usertaps an ad object and then navigates to a checkout page to complete apurchase transaction of an advertised product, additional fees may becharged to the advertiser. Based on a preset plan, advertisementrevenues derived from a social circle via all methods may be shared withrelevant users who provide popular content items.

In above discussions, a user who provides a popular content item sharesad revenues. For users whose content items are not selected as popularones, another incentivization method may be arranged. Assume that acontent page shows a group of videos, including a popular video andother videos. If an icon of the other videos is clicked or tapped by aparticipant, a request message is sent to service center. Then, acorresponding video may be played after the video data is received fromthe center. Consequently, a user who provides the video may becompensated. The user may get some ad revenues generated from anadvertisement displayed on the page. The ad revenues may be shared withanother user who supplies the popular video in the group. The user mayalso share ad revenues generated from other circle pages, depending on asharing plan.

Aforementioned incentivization methods, such as those illustrated usingFIGS. 16 and 17, apply to any website. For instance, content in a circleinterface may appear in an interface of any website. Thus, all websitesmay use the incentivization methods to encourage users to providecontent items. The content items may attract people and helplittle-known websites gain recognition. On the other hand, the samemethods may be used to define a popular content item. In addition, asupplier of a popular content item may be awarded by other methodsbesides sharing ad revenues. For instance, a user who provides a popularcontent item may be paid by a fixed or flexible rate with or withoutsharing ad income.

Lastly, in aforementioned discussions, QR codes may be replaced by othermachine readable codes without affecting proposed functionality, such asone-dimensional bar codes, as long as the codes contain info requiredand are readable by a user device.

Therefore the scope of the invention should be determined by theappended claims and their legal equivalents, rather than by the examplesgiven.

1. A computer-implemented method arranged for an electronic device having a display, comprising: 1) communicating with a service facility after a user launches an app or an app becomes active; 2) receiving information about a plurality of platforms from the service facility, the plurality of platforms including a plurality of first platforms, the plurality of first platforms having virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR) content that has more viewers than VR or AR content of a portion of the plurality of platforms; and 3) presenting on the display the plurality of platforms, wherein the plurality of first platforms is presented with a marker or sign and the portion of the plurality of platforms is presented without the marker or sign.
 2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising presenting on the display the plurality of first platforms and not presenting the portion of the plurality of platforms upon a command from the user.
 3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising presenting a first interactive element on the display and in response to activation of the first interactive element by the user, presenting the plurality of first platforms with the marker or sign.
 4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising presenting a second interactive element on the display and in response to activation of the second interactive element by the user, presenting the plurality of first platforms and not presenting the portion of the plurality of platforms.
 5. The method according to claim 1 wherein one of the plurality of first platforms has more download cases of VR and AR content and/or more streaming cases of VR and AR content than each of the portion of the plurality of platforms.
 6. The method according to claim 1 wherein one of the plurality of first platforms has a VR or AR program that has more viewers than each of VR and AR programs provided at the portion of plurality of platforms.
 7. The method according to claim 1 wherein the plurality of first platforms is presented in a map mode or textual mode on the display.
 8. A computer-implemented method arranged for an electronic device having a display, comprising: 1) communicating with a service facility after a user launches an app or an app becomes active; 2) receiving information about a plurality of platforms from the service facility, the plurality of platforms including a plurality of first platforms, the plurality of first platforms having virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR) content that has more viewers than VR or AR content of a portion of the plurality of platforms; and 3) presenting on the display the plurality of first platforms and not presenting the portion of the plurality of platforms, wherein the plurality of first platforms is presented with a marker or sign.
 9. The method according to claim 8, further comprising presenting on the display the portion of the plurality of platforms in response to a command from the user.
 10. The method according to claim 8, further comprising presenting a first interactive element on the display and in response to activation of the first interactive element by the user, presenting the plurality of first platforms with the marker or sign.
 11. The method according to claim 9, further comprising presenting a second interactive element on the display and in response to activation of the second interactive element, removing the portion of the plurality of platforms from the display.
 12. The method according to claim 8 wherein one of the plurality of first platforms has more download cases of VR and AR content and/or more streaming cases of VR and AR content than each of the portion of the plurality of platforms.
 13. The method according to claim 8 wherein one of the plurality of first platforms has a VR or AR program that has more viewers than each of VR and AR programs provided at the portion of plurality of platforms.
 14. The method according to claim 8 wherein the plurality of first platforms is presented in a map mode or textual mode on the display.
 15. A computer-implemented method arranged for an electronic device having a display, comprising: 1) communicating with a service facility after a user launches an app or an app becomes active; 2) presenting a first interactive element on the display; 3) receiving information about a plurality of platforms from the service facility, the plurality of platforms including a plurality of first platforms, the plurality of first platforms having virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR) content that has more viewers than VR or AR content of a portion of the plurality of platforms; and 4) in response to activation of the first interactive element by the user, presenting on the display the plurality of first platforms with a marker or sign.
 16. The method according to claim 15, further comprising presenting on the display the plurality of first platforms and not presenting the portion of the plurality of platforms.
 17. The method according to claim 15, further comprising presenting a second interactive element on the display and in response to activation of the second interactive element by the user, presenting the plurality of first platforms and not presenting the portion of the plurality of platforms.
 18. The method according to claim 15 wherein one of the plurality of first platforms has more download cases of VR and AR content and/or more streaming cases of VR and AR content than each of the portion of the plurality of platforms.
 19. The method according to claim 15 wherein one of the plurality of first platforms has a VR or AR program that has more viewers than each of VR or AR programs provided at the portion of plurality of platforms.
 20. The method according to claim 15 wherein the plurality of first platforms is presented in a map mode or textual mode on the display. 